BLOODSPORT

Episode 38

〜 Season 3 〜

It had been two weeks since Rhea and her comrades moved into a different headquarters for Levi's new squad. She and the others including Jean, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Connie, Sasha and Historia were all hand-picked by Levi and Hange after the last expedition and the encounter between the Colossal and Armored Titans.

Besides Captain Levi and Jean, Rhea didn't have any visitors while she was recovering. Captain Levi only wanted to make sure she'd be good enough to use her ODM gear soon, as he promised her weeks prior that Rhea would be on his next mission with him. Whereas Jean visited her to make sure she began to trust her friends again. Every time he entered her room, he would try to convince Rhea to let the others come in and interact with her. She refused every time.

"You should have seen their faces when I was bound! Sasha practically jumped off me, and Armin and the others just stared in disbelief. Only Eren ever seemed sincere," Rhea explained whilst doing her morning stretches. She propped her leg up on her bed and leaned down to touch her toes. The doctor made sure to inform Rhea, that if she didn't stretch each morning, her hip would ache regardless of whether or not it had fully healed.

"Yes, and they've all admitted their faults." Jean let out a frustrated breath before grabbing the door handle. "You know, Sasha made a comment about it feeling like we're back in the cadet corps. I don't know if I believe it when you're not there."

After Jean left her room, Rhea debated going down stairs or not to see her old friends. She didn't want to admit it but after everything that happened between her and Bertholdt and Reiner, she needed to be around people who also went through the same thing.

Opening the door of her room, Rhea walked down the hall and wooden steps with a slight limp, making her way into the kitchen. No one was around which led Rhea to believe that Hange and the others were conducting more experiments with Eren's Titan. Jean had kept her in the loop as much as he could. The plan was to seal the hole in Shiganshina District using Eren's hardening ability.

Rhea ran a finger through her hair. It had grown a lot since she had cut it at the bonfire to the point it flowed past her shoulders. Tying it back in a loose bun, some strands falling free around her face, she picked up a pan and began cooking dinner for when her friends would return.

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It wasn't much, but Rhea managed to fry up some eggs and toast some bread. She added whatever seasoning she could find in the cabinets to bring some taste to her food before setting down the plates and cutlery on the dinner table.

She heard the sound of voices coming from outside as the door swung open and everyone around her stopped in their path. They stared at her in shock before glancing at the meal before them. "Uh... I thought you guys might be hungry after all those experiments, so I made up some eggs and-"

Rhea was cut off when Sasha had embraced her then Connie and eventually everyone followed in pursuit. "Oh my God, Rhea, I am so sorry for not apologizing for how I acted on the Wall! Can you ever forgive me!" Sasha cried. Rhea laughed and nodded just as Sasha hugged her again before heading towards the food.

"Thank you, Rhea!" Connie shouted in happiness as he grabbed hold of his fork and took several bites of his food.

The only people who didn't sit down to eat were Eren and Mikasa since Eren was exhausted from experimenting all day and Mikasa was making sure he got to his bed safely. "Where's everyone else?" Rhea turned to Jean, who had remained beside her the entire time since entering the new headquarters.

"Back in Trost. They had to inform Commander Erwin about what was going on and talk to Pastor Nick." He shrugged. "So, what made you venture out of your hole?"

Rhea and Jean walked over to their seats, "well there was this guy who kept pestering me day after day after day. I mean, it got rather annoying after a while." She tossed some egg into her mouth, smirking.

"Oh, it's like that is it?" He smiled.

Rhea laughed and nodded her head, "yeah, it's like that." She and Jean stared at each other for a while until Rhea broke their gaze. She patted his leg in a wholesome manner, "but seriously. Thank you for getting me through this."

"Anytime, Smartass." Jean grinned from ear to ear.

"Rhea, I've noticed your hair has gotten longer. Did you need me to cut it again?" Sasha offered from across the table.

Everyone in the room grew silent. They all knew Rhea had cut her hair as a symbolic death from when Marco passed. She took a strand of hair and twirled it in her hand. Glancing to Jean then back to Sasha, "I think I'll try to grow it out."

"Awesome! Well if you need any help with styling it, my door's always open," Sasha encouraged.

"Unlike Connie's door, I hear." Rhea giggled.

"What the Hell's that supposed to mean?!" Connie yelled.

Rhea leaned forward on the table, resting her chin on her knuckles. "Oh, just that you sleepwalk naked. Or at least those are the rumors."

"Who told you that?!" Then Connie's gaze landed on Jean. "You son of a bitch!"

"Well maybe you should sleep with some clothes on!" Jean remarked.

"Well maybe you should fix your Horseface!" Connie countered.

"Huh?"

A light-hearted argument broke out among her friends as both Sasha and Rhea sat back and laughed. Historia however, not seeming to see joy in the action, started to clean the dishes. Rhea helped Historia out before she whispered a goodnight and headed to her room. Armin followed shortly after, explaining he was tired from the long day.

The rest of the night, Connie, Sasha, Jean and Rhea hung out in the boys room cracking jokes and catching up. Shortly after all the laughs and feeling like teenagers again, Rhea fell asleep embraced in her friend's arms.

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